Last night (Feb. 22), a video surfaced on social media of a Florida news reporter giving a tearful broadcast as she revealed “one of our own” had been fatally shot. As she struggled to keep her composure during the heartbreaking situation, she referred to it as a “nightmare.”
“I apologize. This is really difficult to cover. It is very emotional here at ORMC (Orlando Regional Medical Center), I’m not even going to turn the camera because there are people here who knew the reporter; his fiancée and I were just embracing,” journalist Luana Munoz began on camera. She continued, “It is nice to see all the media. We come together in solidarity in this moment. This is every reporter’s worst nightmare. Absolutely worst nightmare. We go home at night afraid that something like this will occur, and that is what happened it.”
Local news station WESH 2 confirmed the victim’s name is Dylan Lyons of Spectrum News. Lyons was killed while covering a shooting yesterday (Feb. 22). His photographer, Jesse Walden, was also struck during the incident but survived. As of today, he remains in the hospital. Per reports, he is alert and able to speak.
“I lost one of my best friends, Dylan yesterday. I was shot and now I’ve had surgery and I am OK thank you all so much for your well wishes. I haven’t had my phone till now, so I’m sorry I haven’t been able to respond to most of you. I’m very lucky to be alive,” Walden said on Facebook. Lyons’ fiancée Casey mourned the sudden loss of her loved one in a social media post. “The love of my life was murdered. I will never be the same person ever again,” she wrote. Lyons’ sister described the slain reporter as “a happy soul and wonderful person in life” who was “ taken too early.”
University of Central Florida journalism student Nathaniel Marrero was one of the many gathered outside of the hospital to show respect for Lyons, who would often mentor those with aspirations of working in the field. “At the end of the day, we have a job to do and they need to report on it. That’s what he would do,” he told WESH 2. The gunman is believed to be 19 years old and Sherriff John Mina said, “It is unclear if [the suspect] knew if they were news media or not.” Lyons would have been 25 years old next month.